From AIDSmap.com, Michael Carter on the results of the Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS), examining the impact of smoking on pregnancy loss in HIV-positive and HIV-negative women over a 20-year period.

Smoking “dramatically” increases the risk of pregnancy loss – miscarriage or stillbirth – in HIV-positive women, US investigators report in the online edition of AIDS. Researchers from the large Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) examined the impact of smoking on pregnancy loss in HIV-positive and HIV-negative women over a 20-year period. The effect of smoking on pregnancy loss differed dramatically by HIV status, increasing the absolute risk by 19% in HIV-positive women compare

The LHIVE Healthy study is currently looking for 750 adults living with HIV across Canada to participate in the study.

People living with HIV are living longer – but are also disproportionately affected by diabetes, heart disease and smoking-related illness. These ailments are not only a result of HIV, but rather are usually the result of lifestyle choices and risks factors such as tobacco use, low physical activity and poor diet. “One of the real challenges today for people living with HIV is to grow old in an healthy way,” said Dr. Jose Côté, principal investigator of the LHIVE Healthy study. It is i

This free online program helps HIV-positive smokers kick the habit.

This article previously appeared at POZ.com here.
Quitting cigarettes is a challenge for any smoker, but it can be especially tough for those living with HIV. That’s because the HIV population sees higher rates of depression, anxiety and substance abuse—psychiatric issues that can make kicking the habit all the more challenging. But quitting is possible, and it just got easier, thanks to Jonathan Shuter, MD, and his team at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. They developed a free onli

The Body Pro reports smoking leads all preventable causes of death across the world.And it's more deadly in people with HIV than in HIV-negative people

This article by Mark Mascolini from The Center for AIDS Information & Advocacy also appeared in The Body Pro here.
Summary: Smoking exacts a huge toll on the health of everyone who becomes addicted to nicotine. That toll is greater in people with HIV, and not only because as a group they smoke more than the general population. Research shows that smoking subtracts more years from the life of a middle-aged person with HIV than HIV itself. Nicotine addiction raises the risk of allcause

Here’s an update on an ongoing initiative in Ontario designed to help people living with HIV through the process of quitting smoking

The Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN) and PositiveLite.com have partnered in a project to reduce smoking rates in people living with HIV, given the harmful effects on our health, quality of life and other related factors. Here’s the OHTN’s Diana Campbell with an update.
Hello!
We here at Positive Quitting wanted to send an update about smoking cessation activities in Ontario. There’s been a lot of activity across the province and some good momentum building as we draw attention to

Guest author and long-time smoker James Watson writes about how he quit

We were so good together, everyone said so. We had a love hate relationship lasting more than 25 years, and if truth be told the lovin’ heavily outweighed the hate. I didn’t want to quit and no one is more surprised than I that I stopped smoking. Smoking was a reliable and gratifying companion through the brightest and darkest of times.
For over twenty years I didn’t experience any noticeable health effects and like most smokers I felt impervious and unique in my resilience. I was

CATIE reports two observational studies that attempt to cast light on the risk of heart attacks among HIV-positive people today.

This article first appeared on the CATIE website here.
Une version française est disponible ici.
In Canada and other high-income countries, the widespread availability of potent combination anti-HIV therapy (commonly called ART or HAART) has greatly reduced the risk of death from AIDS-related infections. ART is so powerful that doctors increasingly expect that some HIV-positive young adults who are recently infected and who begin treatment shortly after diagnosis and are able to tak

Are they for harm reduction, a tool to help people quit or both? And what about the authorities’ attempts to regulate them? Megan DePutter weighs in on the vaping craze and the issues it raises.

Upon moving to Glasgow’s west end, I noticed a number of things about my neighbourhood: a striking abundance of lovely restaurants, cafes filled with appetizing sweets in the windows, cozy pubs, and more electronic cigarette shops than I could count.
I don’t want to comment on whether e-cigarettes are safe, because I can’t pretend to truly know enough about them. However, when I look at some of the arguments against e-cigarettes, I do notice some trends that frequently pop up in harm-

Bob Leahy on new initiatives in the US to convince people living with HIV that smoking and HIV just don’t mix and why if you want to stay healthy, you should quit.

Some say that personal testimony is the best persuader of all. Certainly the HIV community has used the technique for years, sending people living with HIV out in the community to talk to others about the experience of living with HIV. Sometimes it’s intended as a deterrent to others to go down that path, although I’ve always preferred an approach which stresses our normality and encourages others to talk openly about HIV. (I never liked to be thought of as "Exhibit A" though.)
We’ve

An HIV-positive pastor from Philadelphia proudly announces she has quit cigarettes after smoking for 43 years!

This article By Rev. Andrena Ingram first appeared on TheBody.com here
I have finally announced to my congregation and to my Facebook peeps that I have quit smoking, that I am on the patch and that I would appreciate their prayers!
I can't begin to tell you how LIBERATING and FREEING that was! I began smoking at age 15...and have smoked for 43 years. I did have one successful year in seminary when I stopped smoking, but picked up again, after a relationship went sour. Contrary to what folk